The Hays Police Department conducted 17 traffic stops and received four animal calls on Thursday, according to the Police Activity Log.

Theft:

• 10:03 a.m. – Theft, Mental Health Call was reported in the 1400 block of East 29^th Street

Drug Offenses:

• 7:21 p.m. – Drug Offenses were reported in the 200 block of West 6^th Street
• 11:22 p.m. – Drug Offenses were reported in the 1400 block of East 29^th Street

Suspicious Activity:

• 9:19 a.m. – Suspicious Activity was reported in the 300 block of West 12^th Street
• 11:48 a.m. – Suspicious Activity was reported in the 1600 block of East 29^th Street

Water Use Violation:

• 2:26 a.m. – Water Use Violation reported in the 1200 block of East 27^th Street
• 9:12 a.m. – Water Use Violation reported in the 2500 block of Marjorie Drive
• 9:41 a.m. – Water Use Violation reported in the 2500 block of East 13^th Street
• 1:53 p.m. – Water Use Violation reported in the 2700 block of Sternberg Drive
• 2:34 p.m. – Water Use Violation reported in the 1900 block of Whittier Road

One third of the residents in Northwest Kansas are obese according to a new study. The Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation found that well over 33% of Northwest Kansas men and women are obese. This new study tracks obesity county by county, in Kansas and across the country.

In Ellis County 35.8% of men and 34.1% of women are considered obese. In Trego County 36.2% of men and 35.8% of women were obese.

The state average for men was 35.8 percent, while the women average was 36.1 percent for the entire state.

Wyandotte County’s women had the worst score, with 50.1 percent obesity.

The report also estimates life expectancy on a county-by-county basis. Ellis County women can expect to live 80.8 years, compared with 76.5 years for men. Johnson County men and women had the longest life expectancy.

By a narrow 3-2 vote City Commissioners on Thursday night approved the amended Economic Development Policy for the City of Hays containing the Rural Housing Improvement District Policy.

The RHID policy states only developments containing a minimum of 10 renter-occupied low or moderate-income qualified units would qualify for RHID status. The low-income housing language was included in the policy at the request of Commissioner Ron Mellick

An RHID captures incremental real property taxes created by a development in an attempt to reduce overall costs. The developer pays taxes only on the value of the undeveloped land prior to improvements.

Greg Thyfault, who represented the independent living resource center SKIL, the Domestic Violence Organization Options, and the disability advocacy organization LINK told commissioners the problem on a lack of low income and accessible housing was not going away and he thought it was getting worse. “We would like to ease the burden of everybody who has a disability in town. To have a little bit more availability when they are going to look for an apartment,” he said.

Vice Mayor Henry Schwaller said he believed the proposal was to narrow in scope, “I think it should include single family dwellings and I think it should have a provision requiring accessible housing and it’s not in there and that outrages me.”

Mayor Kent Steward said he did believe there is a need for low income housing in Hays but that the proposed policy did not address accessible housing. “There is nothing in this that says someone is going to come in and build accessible housing. All it talks about is low-income housing and I’m not sure how we even define that.  Commissioners Mellick, Musil and Phelps voted in favor of the proposal.

In addition, Commissioners Approved the final plat of the RAG addition, the area off of 22nd Street and General Hays Road.

Approved rezoning of the Luecke Addition.

Approved the Golden Belt 8th Addition engineering services agreement.

They also approved the addendum to the memorandum of agreement with the Hays Fraternal Order of Police Lodge for 2014.

Kansas wheat farmers are expected to harvest a total of 328 million bushels this year, based on conditions as of July 1, according to the National Agricultural

Statistics Service. That is down 14% from the 382 million bushels harvested in 2012. The average yield is forecast at 40 bushels per acre, down two bushels from last year. About 8.2 million acres were harvested from 9.4 million acres planted last fall.

Colby seed grower Herb Mattson says much of the dryland wheat from Thomas County north to the Nebraska border was destroyed due to drought, freeze and hail. The remaining crop ranged in yield from 5 to 30 bushels per acre, with good test weight and protein. Mattson has harvested irrigated wheat ranging from 65 to 75 bushels per acre. His best performing varieties included SY Wolf, WB Cedar and Tam 111. Harvest is about two-thirds complete in the area.

Isaac Marintzer, branch manager with the Decatur Coop Association locations in Herndon and Ludell, says rain storms the last few days have been a blessing, but far too late to help the wheat crop. Half the wheat was destroyed; the remainder is averaging 20 to 25 bushels per acre. Test weights average 60 pounds per bushel and protein is 14-15 on average. Marintzer says he hopes to take in 20% of a normal crop at the two locations. Harvest should wrap up early next week.

Susan Gilgenbach at Ag Valley Co-op in Norton says harvest would be finished by the weekend, but a small area around Norton received more than two inches of rain Wednesday night, temporarily halting harvest progress. The area wheat ranges from 5 to 40 bushels per acre, with 58 pound test weight and protein averaging better than 12.5. Gilgenbach says the elevator will take in about 50% of a normal crop.

Deb Miller, general manager of the Stockton Farmer s Union Co-op, says the last load of wheat was brought in Thursday. Yields in the Stockton area ranged from 7 to 57 bushels per acre, with test weights ranging from 49 to 65 pounds per bushel and protein averaging 12. The 2013 crop will total about 75% of the co-op’s 10 year average.

The Hays Hurricanes will host the WKSC Championship Swim Meet this weekend at the Hays Aquatic Pool

The HAP Lap pool will be closed to the public Saturday and Sunday.    Admission to the Aquatic Park will be reduced to $2.00 per person since only the Zero Depth pool, Lazy River and Slides will be available.

Nearly 400 athletes from 13  teams – traveling from Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas will participate in the Western Kansas Swim Club meet.

 

In a collaborative effort, the Sternberg Museum of Natural History and Forsyth Library at Fort Hays State University have established a digital collection of about 900 Mosasaur fossils.

“Our goal is to present a collection that appeals to the research community as well as to K-12 students,” said John Ross, library director.

“We wanted to bring global access to our collections,” said Dr. Reece Barrick, director of the Sternberg Museum. “For instance, researchers in Finland can compare their specimens to ours.”

“Basically this means an eighth-grader in Hays working on a research project and a researcher doing post-doctorial work on the other side of the world can access our collections via the Forsyth Library Web page,” said Ross.

The final part of this two-year project involved the 3D scanning and display of select specimens. Each digital image includes the metadata that show the species the fossil came from, the Sternberg collection it is a part of, Sternberg’s identification number and the specimen’s size.

“The smallest fossil that we scanned was pea-sized,” said Ross. “Fossils of that size were included as part of a grouping of fossils. The biggest piece we can scan is up to 1.5 feet tall and 1 foot wide currently. With the addition of some attachments, bigger objects can be scanned. The library is also hoping to get a hand-held digital 3D scanner to scan large objects, architecture or the parts of spacecraft.”

Each scan takes several hours to complete as the scanning stage rotates and spins the fossil.

“From an education standpoint, we hope to provide sample lesson plans that have digital photos, videos and 3D images embedded,” said Ross. “We also have a 3D printer that we hope to be able to print fossil replicates for teachers to use in the classroom without fear of damage.”

This is only the beginning of several projects the Sternberg Museum and Forsyth Library have planned.

“The ultimate goal is to eventually have students be able to use this technology,” said Ross. “We want to create an environment where interns or other students in specific areas can use the scanner so we are doing some teaching with it as well.”